The Takhini Softball Complex was abuzz Thursday night, as Whitehorse residents were given their first chance in years to watch a local fastball game.

Two men's fast-pitch teams the Roadhouse and Casa Loma faced off in an exhibition game at the complex, in preparation for both this weekend's tournament in Dawson City and next year's Western Canadian Masters Fast-pitch Championships, which will be held in Whitehorse.

Dozens of athletes have been practicing at the Robert Service ball park for the past couple of months, since finding out about the masters championships.

'It's been a lot of fun,' said Roadhouse's Bobby Parks, one of the organizers of the fast-pitch revival. '(Thursday's game) went really well. There were a few guys that haven't taken any swings in a while, but they got better as the game went on.

'We have three teams (from Whitehorse) going to Dawson alone, so the response has been huge. There was a time when Faro, Watson Lake, everybody had a fastball team. We want to get back to that.'

Those who turned out for the matchup were witness to some fine pitching by Yellowknife's Paul Gard, who was flown in for the weekend tournament by the Roadhouse.

Gard recently played in the senior masters championships and also pitched in the world masters in Australia last January and it showed as the Roadhouse shut out Casa Loma five nothing, thanks in part to some strikeouts by Gard.

'That's one of the things we don't have here, is an old work horse,' said Parks. 'It's good for the young guys to watch pitching of this calibre, and then hopefully they can learn from it.'

Brian Power and Matt King split the pitching duties for Casa Loma.

The lack of fastball pitchers in the territory may stunt the re-growth of the sport, although Parks suspects there will be a three-team league starting next season in Whitehorse. That could double in the next couple of years of things go as planned.

'It could easily get going again,' said Parks. 'It's just the youth movement that's the tough part. Once they get past bantam, there's nothing for them here.'

Softball Yukon Executive Director, George Arcand, agreed that a three-team league is probable, stating from what he saw last night at the park, there's a 'tremendous amount' of interest.

A fastball league won't be the only new addition to the Takhini complex for next season, as Arcand and his crew gear up to install new infields inside the park a $90,000 project.

'The infields are dangerous,' explained Arcand. 'They are extremely hard last night's game showed it. They need to be replaced or somebody's going to get hurt. It's like sliding on cement.'

The new infields will be made of completely different material volcanic rock from Quesnel, B.C., which is crushed and then mixed with a binder and clay. Arcand discovered the surface while visiting the Softball City in Surrey and has been working on it ever since.

Since it's much more expensive than the clay currently sitting in the local park, Softball Yukon applied to the territorial government's Community Development Fund for help, and received a grant for $75,000.

'I'm really grateful we were able to get the grant,' said Arcand. 'We couldn't have done it without that. There' s no way. We would have had to replace the infields with the same type of stuff we have now.'

The new surface will ensure safer games for the athletes, as well as 'true hops' on balls hit within the infield. It's also extremely maintenance friendly, added Arcand.

'It's like sliding on a pillow versus cement.

'And when you look at it, it's red. That will certainly add to the park, when you get a deep green outfield and then the red, it will look really nice.'

A large number of softball games were called off in the parks this past season, and although most of them were called because of lightning, some were called because field conditions were unsafe something which shouldn't happen with the new material.

'I doubt we'll ever call a game again with this stuff,' stated Arcand.

It's hoped that work on the large project will begin in just a couple of weeks, with everything but the final details completed by the end of September. Arcand will be flying to Vancouver on Sunday for a meeting with the company that supplies the material.

'We waited for the fast-pitch game last night, but now that's it,' he said. 'The ballpark is officially closed, and when I get back next week, we want to go ahead with removing the current infields.'

While the Softball Yukon maintenance staff will be on hand, most of the work will need to be done by local contractors, he pointed out. The removal and installation will require some heavy equipment. Crews will also have to replace the sprinkler system and all of the bases, in conjunction with the new infields.

'I would suspect that, come next spring, we'll put the final touches on it, clean it up and be ready to play,' said Arcand.

While the two parks within the complex will be getting an overhaul, the three outside of the complex, across the road, will not.

There will be some work done on the fields, as well as fixing or perhaps replacement of the dugouts, but they are Department of Education property. They also aren't as high priority as the inside parks, which are used more often for tournament finals and important matchups.